Shadows of the Night
by ThatYouTubeAddict
Summary: He came every single night. It was scary at first. But gradually, she moved on from her fear. They talked. And suddenly, everything she knew about changed. He showed her the world, and she showed him it was alright to be a man again, if he could ever be called that. And, when finally they were both happy, he realized he had probably showed her too much of the world.


The bell rang. Students came pouring out of the classroom. But nobody noticed her. She had black hair, like ink. Hazel eyes, always darting here and there. But no one saw her. They walked by. She was a nobody. She wasn't a cheerleader. She wasn't in the school band. She wasn't a mathelete. No, she wasn't anything.

She stuck to the shadows. Sometimes, she felt like a part of them. Drifting here and there. Observing everything. It felt good, sometimes. She knew everything that was happening. She held a lot of power on them. But most of the time, she felt lonely. Unwanted.

She swayed along with the crowd, mashed up between them. Where they went, she followed. Just like a shadow. In the sidelines, everywhere they went, she was there.

Just for once though, she didn't want to be in the sidelines. In the shadows.

For once, she wanted to tower above them all, become a source of light.

* * *

"Anya! Wait up.", a voice in the distance yelled. _What? Someone wants to talk to me?_ Huh. What a surprise. She turned, and saw two heads, one blonde and one brunette. Oh, right. She had two friends in this place. If she could call them that.

The day just got over, and everyone was leaving. Except for the drama kids, who stayed back because there was a play coming up.

"What the heck? I thought we were meeting up. You were supposed to wait for us." The blonde pointed an accusatory finger. The brunette just shook her head.

"Hey Leila. Today at 7?". A tall, lanky boy passed them and greeted them. Leila's new interest. His name….J something…J…..-

"Hey Jake. Yeah, 7 sounds fantastic". Oh, right. Jake. Such a common name. Probably why she forgot it. Leila threw one of her best smiles at him, and got a blinding grin in return before he left them.

"Aren't you two just adorable?". The brunette smirked and rolled her eyes.

"Well, yes. We are very adorable, Rebecca. Thank you very much." Leila stuck her tongue out at Rebecca. Anya was busy watching all this with an amused expression painted on her face.

"What are you smirking at?" You couldn't even wait for us. You have no right to be happy. Anya rolled her eyes and walked, expecting them to follow. They did.

"So Anya, what are you doing after school?" Rebecca's voice came out from behind her. Anya decided it was time to break the monk treatment, and speak up.

"You know, the usual. Study, watch Downton Abbey, maybe a read a little as well. What about you?" Anya played the good friend very well.

"Gee An, you need to get out of the house for a while. See the world. Meet new people." Leila spoke in such a way, she might as well be campaigning for a political party.

"Let her be Lee. I know what it's like to go out and meet new people. Your idiot quota for the day is over the top. An, please feel free to ignore her as much as you wish."

"Hey! Meeting new people…"

Their voices faded somewhere in the background. A small, amused smirk found a way to her face, watching her friends bicker. It was at times like these, when she wondered, why did she always pretend they were her friends? They were, weren't they? Why did she keep calling them her 'so-called' friends?

* * *

"Viktor! Grigory! Come down here right now." A voice yelled.

"Coming mom!" Came another yell in response.

"I'm home!" Anya yelled to the house, not seeking a response. She walked down the hallway, and turned to the kitchen. Entering the kitchen, she headed straight for the fridge, without even acknowledging the other presence in the room, naturally.

She grabbed a tart and popped it into her mouth. "Hewwo mom.", she greeted with a stuffed mouth.

"Hello baby. How was your day?" Her mom put the kettle on the stove, already in the process of making tea for the both of them. The thing her mom and she had in common: They could not start their day without tea. A cup in the morning, and one when she came back home. Her mom would make hot tea, and they'd sit down at the table and talk about their day.

"The usual. Study, keep up with the idiots, and home." She replied. "Oh, by the way, did you know, our science professor yelled the f word today. It was pretty epic."

"Anya! Keep your voice down!", her mom looked around to see if anyone had heard. "Your brothers could be down here."

Anya simply rolled her eyes at her mom's (expected) response. "Mom, they're 14 years. I'd be surprised if they didn't know the word."

"Which word?" Two identical twins walked in. One of them grabbed an apple from the big bowl kept in the middle of table.

"Nothing. Your mom was just terribly concerned about your vocabulary." Anya smirked, eyes sparkling with something playful.

She got a simple nod in reply and she noticed, her brothers were hiding their faces. _Ha! Caught you red-handed._

Anya went up to her room. She let out a mental sigh, thinking about the same old, boring routine. Her life was a cycle. Get up, go to school, come back, study, and sleep. The only good thing was probably Downton Abbey. But even so, it'd be good to have some unusual thing happening. A miracle, an adventure. That's what she wanted. She yearned for an adventure, to run wildly, let the wind run through her hair.

And so, she walked into her room, sighing as she went on to read Biology. God, she cursed that damn schedule, and school, and the world.

After about three hours or so of studying, Anya finally gave up. Everything in her head got muddled up, and she could hear this buzz sound. And Math, was a great contributor. Flipping Algebra.

She head downstairs and the smell of freshly cooked food wrapped around her, and dragged her off her feet. Another reason she loved her mom: Her mom cooked like a Michelin Star Chef.

Today, for dinner, was roast chicken and the veggies. And God forbid, she started drooling right then and there.

"Hello printsessa." This old man, someone in his mid-forties, has just walked in. He kissed Anya in the cheek, and sat down on the dinner table.

"Hello papa. How was your day?" Anya was a daddy's little girl. Her dad thought she might as well have been a princess. He was the only one who thought she was pretty, however she dressed and looked.

"It was okay, I suppose. When is work ever good, anyway?"

"Papa!" A collective exclamation went up and the twins came rushing to greet their hero.

Everyone took their places at dinner table, and discussion about their days, and lives began. The twins excitedly talked about their first day at high school. All the people they met, the teachers. Everybody divulged into an avid discussion about their day.

Anya, as usual, preferred to sit and observe. She saw the light in the twins eyes', the love in their mother's expression and pride, along with affection, radiating from her father's face. She loved this. This feeling of family, of home. But, yet, something very deep inside turned and twisted. And Anya didn't want to find out what. So she ignored it and plastered a smile on her face, hoping it looked genuine enough.

After dinner, the entire family _loved_ Downton Abbey. The boys doted on Lady Mary and she suspected her mom had a little crush on Charles Blake, though Anya was quite sure her mom would never admit it. And with this new entry of Prince Kuragin and the Russians, her dad showed new found interest in the soap as well.

Anya then headed upstairs for her room, preparing for bed, after this overly long and monotonous day. She changed into her pyjamas and climbed into her sheets. Ah... she loved this feeling. When she climbs into the bed, and all the numbness dissolves into the dark. It's like every single night, the dark takes away all her pain, letting her sleep in comfort. The dark is like a very loving mother; it takes away her troubles, pains, and sorrows, and makes it her own.

Anya called to her dreams, and dove into them, never wanting to come back.

* * *

After a few hours of sleep, Anya woke up to this cold and uncomfortable feeling. She got out of her bed to shake off the feeling.

Even after doing a jig, she still felt the feeling creeping over her. She decided she needed some air. And so, she did the only thing she could think of.

The last time Anya had been up to the roof all by herself during the night had been when she was eight. Her grandmother had just passed away, and Anya had been deeply affected. They had just moved from Yekaterinburg to Omaha, and she had found this new change very exciting, but more intimidating. She was five. The twins were two.

She'd held onto the shawl wrapped around her grandmother all day, seeking warmth and comfort. Her grandmother then told her stories of princesses, horses and magical birds in the night.

She's now 17 and the twins 14. Yet, she remembered the way she clung onto the old shawl, cried her eyes out, breathing the night air. She never quite got over that incident. And she probably never will.

The difference between then and now was that she was afraid of the darkness then. But now, she embraced it. The darkness enveloped her, making her one of their own. She loves this. The sound of nature. The leaves ruffling against each other, the birds whose day has already begun. A genuine smile made its way onto her pale face and she took a deep breath.

She let out a giggle. She feels so happy and..alive. She spread out her hands and finally lets out a laugh. And then it strikes her.

That's what she felt down there. Why she's always pretending at school and that weird feeling during dinner. It's this feeling of not belonging. She's always felt it. Like, she never fit in. Yes, it's her family. It's her blood. But, even then, when they laughed and smiled and cried, she never felt entirely comfortable.

This was where she belonged. Out in the open. Where she could spread out her arms, laugh to her heart's content. Where she didn't have to pretend.

She let out a sigh, and sat down on the ledge. And as she did, she had to stifle a scream. Apparently, she wasn't the only person on the roof. There he was, standing like he owned the roof. She stared. It was the only thing she could do. For about a whole minute, she stared. And he stared back.

Finally, when she regained her senses and some of her dignity, she mustered up some courage and,

"Who are you?" She asked, putting as much of confidence as she could. She tried to keep her head high, but, the way she knew it, she probably looked like a goose.

And the nerve of that moron! He stood still as a post, apparently having decided that he was not going to answer her question.

Anya, now more mad than afraid, "Okay. You've got about 30 seconds before I call the police and wake up the whole house."

And he just turned around, facing the city instead of her now. She didn't care if that was a better view. She needed an answer!

"1…2…3…4…5…"

Anya was furious. Even though she hardly ever lost her cool, she knew she was terrifying when she did.

"6..7..8..9..10..11-"

"I mean no harm." And stopped. His cool, calm voice cut through her counting. It was so…relaxing. Her knees went weak. She felt weightless all of a sudden. She loved it. And hated it at the same time.

"Well, that's very reassuring." She wanted to laugh at how ironical that statement was.

She walked over to the edge, where he was standing. She leaned to say, "Listen sir-"

And she fell. That was until he decided to become -in-Shining-Armor and save her from the fall. He grabbed her arm, preventing the fall.

And when he touched her, she realised he wasn't normal. But, people like him didn't exist, did they?

And he realised she knew now. So, why beat around the bush, right? "So you still think I'll hurt you?"

"More than ever, yes." And his reply to that. A smirk. Well, one-eighth of a smirk, atleast.

He stared at her, as if he was trying to figure out how he could convince her he didn't mean harm. He seemingly gave up, as he turned around.

Anya was so confused. She bit her lip so hard, she drew out blood. And after that, she went to bite her inner cheek. And, good God, Anya must have been high, because then she sat down and,

"Today, in English class, a lizard from the Science Lab slipped in and our teacher, completely freaked out. Like, she started screaming. And then one of the boys came, just picked the lizard , and took it back to the Lab."

After that, he sat down, some distance across her, she continued. "And in the cafeteria…."

And so, Anya started talking about her day, with somebody she had never met, somebody who wasn't human, and hadn't even told her his name. And to top it off, had showed up at the roof of her house, randomly.

And, probably, they'd fall in love, like in some cliched story. Where the young, naïve girl falls in love with the stranger, who could have possibly been a serial killer.

Later, when this thought popped into Anya's head, she cringed. Up until the point, she realised she was 17, and hadn't had a crush yet. But, who knew what the future held, right?

* * *

 **AN: Hey you guys. So, this is my first fanfic and honestly, it took a lot of courage to put this up. I'm so worried. Also, you will find out who the guy is. And rest assured, it will not be clichè. I mean, not according to me.**

 **I hope you guys liked it. Please review, and also, let me kmow my mistakes and improv tips. Okay, thanks a bunch readers.**


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